The present invention relates to a wiper for scraping debris from between the convolutions of a continuous flight auger and particularly is concerned with such a wiper which permits unrestricted rotational and longitudinal movement of the auger.
The prior art, relating to wipers or scrapers for earth boring drills, is well developed in the art relating to rotary drill bits. The following U.S. Pat. Nos. are representative of such art: 1,908,049; 2,041,467; and, 2,654,578. The scrapers of these patents are relatively immovable and would not be suitable for employment with continuous flight augers, of the type with which the present invention is concerned.
Movable scrapers for use on various types of implements, such as plows, are also known in the art. The plow clearer of U.S. Pat. No. 122,155 is representative of such a scraper. Scrapers of this type are not suggestive of the present invention because they are in no way concerned with the provision of a scraper or wiper which permits the unrestricted rotational and longitudinal movement of a continuous flight auger.
Continuous flight earth boring augers of the type with which the present invention is concerned find principal use in the drilling of holes for foundations and the like. The most customary way of cleaning such augers is to remove the auger from the earth and spin the debris therefrom. Although this method is relatively effective, it has the disadvantage that it requires the auger to be lifted from the hole being drilled. It also has the disadvantage that the flight of the auger is not continuously cleaned during the drilling process.